Trixter guitarist Steve Brown opened up about his Bon Jovi tribute band, Always Jovi, and his personal efforts to help Jon Bon Jovi navigate his ongoing vocal struggles, in an interview published by Hot Metal Magazine.
Brown was asked directly about his outreach to Jon Bon Jovi, given the singer’s well-documented vocal issues and his upcoming return to touring. The question prompted Brown to share a candid and detailed account of his history with Bon Jovi and his attempts to offer assistance.
“Look Bon Jovi, Jon, Richie, Dave, Tico, Alec and even all the new guys. Phil X is a dear friend of mine. I love everybody. But Jon was the first guy who got behind Trixter back in 1986. We gave him our demo tape and he called us up and said, ‘Dude, you guys are great.’ And he proceeded, you know, and this was before Slippery Wet blew up and he proceeded to help us,” Brown said.
Brown then drew on his own experience with vocal surgery to explain why he felt qualified to reach out to Jon Bon Jovi with advice.
“Look, I had vocal surgery 15 years ago. I blew out my voice from over singing and you know, playing bars too many nights. And so I think again I’m pretty an expert at it and I research to keep my voice and doing this at 55 years old and I think my voice is the best it’s ever been in my life now and especially singing you know the Bon Jovi catalog and we’re doing all the songs in the original keys no tuning down,” he continued.
Brown then recalled a personal encounter with Jon Bon Jovi in 2022, where he took the opportunity to speak candidly about the singer’s vocal condition.
“I saw Jon the last time we hung out was in 2022, right after he had that really rough tour and that he had his first bout of vocal surgery. And I saw him at a party. … I grabbed him and I pulled him away from Jerry Seinfeld and Stephen Spielberg was there. But I pulled him away and I said, ‘Dude, I love you, bro, and I want you to know I heard the tour,’ and I said, ‘You got some serious problems.’ I said, ‘I had surgery about 10 years ago. I’ve been through the ringer. I’m become a sort of, you know, I’m not a doctor, but I know every trick,'” Brown said.
Despite Jon Bon Jovi’s polite response at the time, Brown revealed that his subsequent efforts to reconnect have gone unanswered — though he has continued to push through various channels.
“And he looked at me and he said, ‘Man, I really appreciate that. I’ll reach out to you if I need you.’ I haven’t heard from him, but you know, over the last year, I’ve been reaching out to people in his camp, his brother, people who work, you know, tour managers, everybody, and trying to get to him and, and finally, I got his cell and his email and I sent him an email and I called him and texted him and said, ‘Hey, man, I’m here,'” he continued.
Brown also shared that he conveyed the same message to Bon Jovi keyboardist Dave Bryan during a jam session in Nashville, making clear that his intentions are rooted entirely in goodwill.
“I told I jammed with Dave Bryan in December, you know, right before I launched Always Jovi. We played three songs together down in Nashville and I told Dave the same thing, man. And I said, you know, cuz Dave, you know, we all want Jon to succeed, but you cannot go out there and be bad. It’s there’s no hiding it anymore. And we saw that last thing that came out, that Tony Robbins special, and I’m not going to slag on anybody, but got a long way to go,” Brown said. “And again, if this gets to him, you know, it’s all with love. And I told Dave Bryan that. I said, ‘Dude, I love Jon. I love you guys. I want you to succeed.'”
Jon Bon Jovi is set to return to touring amid continued uncertainty surrounding the state of his voice, while Brown’s Always Jovi tribute band continues to perform the Bon Jovi catalog in its original keys.
Brown’s concern is not without foundation. Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal difficulties have been well-documented in recent years, stemming from a serious medical condition that required surgical intervention. The road back to the stage has been a long and uncertain one for the rock icon, making Brown’s offer all the more relevant.
Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal problems were caused by atrophied vocal cord tissue, a condition that left his cords unable to close properly. He subsequently underwent implant surgery specifically designed to restore that function, Blabbermouth reported.
The surgery and the lengthy rehabilitation that followed appear to have given Jon Bon Jovi renewed confidence. The singer stated that he is now confident enough to sell tickets for a future tour, signaling that he believes his voice has recovered to a level that meets his own standards for performing live, Blabbermouth noted.
That confidence has translated into concrete touring plans. Bon Jovi’s upcoming tour is set to kick off at Madison Square Garden in New York, one of the most iconic venues in the world, as revealed in a YouTube interview. It is a bold choice that underscores just how seriously the band is taking this comeback.
The stakes, however, remain high. Brown’s candid remarks reflect a broader concern shared by many fans and industry insiders: that performing at that level, in those venues, demands a voice that is fully restored. Whether Jon Bon Jovi has reached that point remains to be seen, but Brown has made clear that his door — and his phone — remain open.
